Corrections and clarifications: A prior version of this article misspelled the name of Yale Divinity School Dean Greg Sterling.

The Jewish New Year arrived this fall with an unusual milestone: The University of Chicago Divinity School began its semester with a Jewish dean for the first time in its 125-year history.

In fact, Dean Laurie Zoloth is apparently the first Jewish dean of any university-based U.S. divinity school, according to the Association of Theological Schools.

“We normally think of Jews as deeply integrated in the American academic system, so it is unusual that there is a discipline or an area where one could be the first Jewish academic anything,” Zoloth told USA TODAY.